Happy New Year

 

2024 - a very joyful year

 Chris says I am too quick to label years as good or bad. He's not wrong, but also there's no denying that, in some years, the good happenings far outweigh the bad, and other years just plain stink. I am happy to say that 2024 is getting categorized as good in my brain. :) The biggest contributing factor is that my family moved down and now live five minutes from us! I was too scared to even dream of this happening. I'm so thankful to have both sides of our family living here now. Here's what we've been up to.

JANUARY

This was a slower month for us. Did a hike on New Year's Day, took Peter ice skating at Ice on Main, and visited a new state park.

FEBRUARY

Mom and Dad picked a house!!! The kids began monthly ZooSchool at a petting zoo in Anderson. We hosted some new friends from SD and enjoyed showing them Falls Park and our little local bowling place. I hiked the hardest hike I've ever done in my life up to Rainbow Falls with some friends from church. Oh, to have a little college body again! Took the kids to the annual train expo, and brought some friends along this time. :) I was thrilled to go to two amazing concerts: Itzhak Perlman and the Righteous Brothers. lol I'm not random AT ALL.

MARCH

My friend, Caroline, joined us for our annual St. Patrick's Day feast. Chris finally took me to the Oconee BellFest where I got to hold an albino snake. Foraged morels for the first time! We had a lovely Easter with family. The kids found tiny creatures in the creek during a ranger-led field trip at Table Rock State Park.

APRIL

The kids enjoyed our homeschool group's field day. It was chilly but Peter especially gave it his all. :) My parents MOVED HERE!!!! I got to play with a friend at a festival in downtown Greer. I also played my first gig in eight years. I was nervous because I hadn't done that kind of thing in such a long time, but I am thankful I was given the opportunity. It was fun to play with friends, and the director's energy was infectious. We got two chicks which we loved very much. We were heartbroken when they didn't make it. :( Enjoyed Conestee with friends.

MAY

My dad got us a summer pass to Chuck E. Cheese and we used it a TON. Chris and I had a blast taking the kids to see their favorite TV stars in real life - the Kratt Brothers! We finally went to Landsford Canal to see the spider lilies. We tried to kayak but that didn't work, so we hiked the trail along the canal and still got a good view. I took both my "moms" out for Mother's Day at Biscuit Head. I turned 31, and had an amazing birthday with friends and family. My brother-in-law (the youngest Marsceau) got married, and 583 family members showed up. :P

JUNE

Got to see Mamma Mia! with a friend. So fun! Matthew turned 5 and had a fishing-themed party. We went to the Roper Mountain Science Center for the first time. Such a cool place. I went to a flower arranging class with Mom. (This was how I showed her I truly love her, as I hate plants.) Peter and I participated in our church's music camp for the first time. He did an awesome job, and I had fun playing jigs alongside friends from church. Some friends from IL came down for a visit, and we loved taking them to our favorite little island at the lake. Picked peaches for the first time!

JULY

The kids started school! Peter is in 4th grade and Matthew is doing K5. It's going better than I anticipated, so I'm very thankful. It's incredible watching Matthew beginning to read short stories. I never thought we'd get here. :P We loved watching the Easley fireworks. Stayed up very late and ordered garlic knots at a local pizza place while waiting for the show to start. The kids had so much fun.

AUGUST

A slower month. The kids tried a Making History class, and my parents and I had a great time at the (extremely crowded) Apple Bash thing in Hendersonville.

SEPTEMBER

Chris and I celebrated our 12th anniversary! Peter and I had fun going to a science class, just us, at Clemson University. We went to a Renaissance Faire for the very first (and last) time. No pics because I didn't like it at all.

OCTOBER

This was our blissful month of travel and forgetting we have normal lives to live!!!! I went to Florida with Mom, and we crammed in absolutely everything we could. Went to EPCOT and Magic Kingdom, visited Disney Springs with my grandma, went to St. Augustine, and stopped by Tybee Island quickly on the way home. It was so fun, omw. Came home for like a week before leaving with the whole family for a stay at the Disney Hilton Head Island Resort. It was great getting some more time with my grandma in one of our favorite places. We attended my niece's wedding shower. The kids had their art displayed at the library. This has turned into something we look forward to every year. We finally went to the gem and mineral show in Greenville, and it was AWESOME!

NOVEMBER

Enjoyed a day of hiking with Char. The kids did an art class at Bob Jones University on Degas. Peter turned 10 and had a Minecraft party! My niece got married, and I got to play for the wedding alongside my sister and a friend. I hosted an overnight at a friend's incredible house with several of my friends from church and elsewhere. The fellowship, food, and views were simply amazing. We enjoyed two Thanksgivings with Chris's family. My parents, Char, and I went to the Easley Christmas tree lighting and were so moved by how Hallmarky it was. ;)

DECEMBER

We went to the longest parade we've ever attended - 2 hours long! I snagged much-sought-after tickets to ride Santa's Sleigh with my family and some friends. This guy got special permission to transform his vehicle into the coolest sleigh around. Chris went ice skating with the kids in downtown Greenville. It reawakened Chris's love of hockey, so we're going to look into options here in the new year. I played a gig for a local church's candlelight service, and it was so beautiful! I got to attend Charlotte's first concert with the GSO. I did my usual cookie baking, and delivered to 13 families, I think? We had Christmas Eve at my parents' house and Christmas Day at my brother-in-law's. It's never lost on me how lucky we are to be part of a huge family that loves each other and loves getting together as often as possible.

While it's been amazing having family around lately to do things with, our personal family time dwindled to very little this year due to Chris's working nearly every weekend on his parents' house. We knew this would be a huge project and a necessary one for us to do, but the cost has been high family-wise, and we are so eager for it to be finished in the next few months.

I enjoyed meeting monthly with a fairly large group of ladies from my church. I loved that there was never an agenda; we'd just share snacks and stories and laughs. I've also enjoyed book club with my sister-in-law and Caroline. We're excited to add Charlotte to the group!

Orchestra continues to be my weekly outlet. ;) I've been challenged further than ever with some of the pieces we performed this year (lookin' at you, Suk). Idk if I'll ever get over nerves and gain some self-confidence, but if I do, it'll be here in this symphony. I played seven concerts with them, and two gigs with fellow members. I have more and more friends attending the concerts now, too, which feels nice. When I first joined, I played many a concert with no one out there I knew, and I love that that's no longer the case. <3

I've loved watching the kids grow this year. Peter is just the most emotionally intelligent deep thinker. Some of the questions he asks blow us away. He loves building Legos, playing Switch, and drawing everything. Matthew follows him everywhere. Matthew is very generous and a hard worker. He loves to be right in the middle of projects, and he gets SO excited when he gains ground in school. Now to break his thumb-sucking habit.... Both kids still love animals as much as ever, and have fun observing the freshwater shrimp and goldfish we've brought home recently.

I read a lot this year, as usual! You can see all the books I read here. I didn't watch as much stuff this year, but you can see the movies I watched here.

I don't like to make resolutions anymore, and I'm not trendy enough to choose a word to be a theme of the next year or anything, but I have had several thoughts of what I want to lean into in 2025. I want to be intentional and authentic. I feel unhealthy in many areas of my life at the moment, and I know that if I focus on the huge goals instead of the baby steps to get there, I'll fall apart mentally and end up doing nothing. So step 1 for me is breaking down the goals I have in my head into doable chunks in order to form habits to build upon. Peter and I have done a lot of reading lately on pathways in the brain, and how difficult it is to change a habitual thought because it's literally created a rut that you now have to restructure. Doable, but difficult. That's the kind of work I have ahead of me. ;)

I hope you all have a peaceful new year. I hope you feel God close. I hope whatever disenchantment you might feel with society or the political landscape or difficult relationships doesn't tarnish your view of God and His care for each individual life. May His love for us be made real and observable in the many small joys He puts in our lives daily. :) Happy 2025!